Making College Possible, Emotional Learning, and Kanye West vs Everybody

In our latest episode of Upgraded by Hobsons, we explore how emotions influence learning, and why there’s a college course centered around Kanye West. Plus, you’ll hear how one man is making college possible for those who never thought it could be. Finally, we take a look at why a gap year before college works, and why one woman dedicated her academic research to the mysterious popularity of cat videos online.

Don’t miss this episode’s feature stories:

Why Emotions Matter in School: Emotions have a significant impact on learning, and more and more schools are striving to become emotionally intelligent. This is a story about one such school in New York City and how teaching emotional intelligence is changing the lives of students.

Making College Possible: This is a story about a man who got inspired by his brother’s tough turns in life, and found a way to make college possible for thousands of low-income Americans.

Benefits of a Gap Year: Taking a year off after high school is not such a bad thing afterall. Hear from experts Marie Schwartz and Jeff Selingo on why taking a gap year before college might be the smartest decision some students can make.

Kanye West vs Everybody: One course at Georgia State University is using Kanye West to teach its students about African-American poetry throughout history.

Online Cat Videos: Why do so many people watch online cat videos? One academic researcher went on a mission to find out.